How to create topspin?

Hi guys! I'm new here, so please forgive me if I done something wrong. Let me talk about myself a bit. I played tennis for almost a year now. I'm trying my best to improve as much as I can even though I don't have a coach because I don't have the money. I've a tennis group that has good players, around 3.5-5.0. They use lots of topspin; moreover, I'm a natural flat hitter. I've a really hard time with their topspin because I don't have topspin to return their shots. Can anyone please give me some basic fundamental to create a topspin forehand?

Drop your wrists before contact and after you bring the racquet back during your shoulder turn. The racquet has to begin below the ball and you then bring it up and "brush" the ball with an upward stroke finishing over your other shoulder.

There's only a very limited amount you can learn on a tennis forum. Best thing is to get a few individual lessons with a recommended pro, will be the best $40-60 per hour you'll spend for you game. You'll realize that your problems returning topspin are likely due to deficient footwork and racquet preparation.

It's mainly about the angle of your racket face at contact. If the string bed is slightly closed (the side which will hit the ball faces the ground a bit), you'll hit the ball above its center, which will cause the upper edge of the ball to move forward faster than the rest... in other words, it will spin.

Most people say "hit low to high." That's what you say to a kid who's on the court for the first time... it's simple and it's not completely false. However, if you get better and try to hit tons of spin by swinging super vertically, you might realize that you're sending the ball a lot higher than usual. If you want the same net clearance, but more spin, close the racket face slightly more.

To get Federer-like spin, you'll more than just what I wrote down, but you need to know the basic idea: you're trying to hit the upper edge of the ball to make it spin and you achieve this by angling your racket forward, just a tad more closed (like 5 to 10 degrees) than if it was perpendicular to the ground.

To start, get a foam ball. Drop feed to yourself and hit up the back of the ball to get it to spin forward. Don't worry about hitting it far. Just try to get it spinning with as many RPM's as possible. This is one way to get the basic feel for hitting with topspin.

It's mainly about the angle of your racket face at contact. If the string bed is slightly closed (the side which will hit the ball faces the ground a bit), you'll hit the ball above its center, which will cause the upper edge of the ball to move forward faster than the rest... in other words, it will spin.

Most people say "hit low to high." That's what you say to a kid who's on the court for the first time... it's simple and it's not completely false. However, if you get better and try to hit tons of spin by swinging super vertically, you might realize that you're sending the ball a lot higher than usual. If you want the same net clearance, but more spin, close the racket face slightly more.

To get Federer-like spin, you'll more than just what I wrote down, but you need to know the basic idea: you're trying to hit the upper edge of the ball to make it spin and you achieve this by angling your racket forward, just a tad more closed (like 5 to 10 degrees) than if it was perpendicular to the ground.

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10isfreak is right. Angle of the racket face is what determines how much spin you get. Obviously you need to hit from low to high but the swing path doesnt have to be at a steep angle. BTW different grips only changes your ideal contact point.

Hi guys! I'm new here, so please forgive me if I done something wrong. Let me talk about myself a bit. I played tennis for almost a year now. I'm trying my best to improve as much as I can even though I don't have a coach because I don't have the money. I've a tennis group that has good players, around 3.5-5.0. They use lots of topspin; moreover, I'm a natural flat hitter. I've a really hard time with their topspin because I don't have topspin to return their shots. Can anyone please give me some basic fundamental to create a topspin forehand?

topspin = steep(er) tajectory through the ball \
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just know that there should be difference in the height of the racquet before(lower) and after (higher) you hit the ball....the postion of the hitting shoulder after followthrough is a good tell tale sign... can't add anything else cause you don't have a vid for us to see.

there is of couse a search function in this forumn if youre not lazy ...its been almost done to death

Yes exactly, therefore it seems the most important component of hitting topspin is not necessarily low to high (although that is required), but rather that the racquet is always vertical or slightly closed throughout the swing path. If at any point the face opens (especially at contact) and you come from below the ball, the ball will as pointed out above, hit the back fence.

a natural wrist movement in a very fast swing will create topspin. start swinging faster and then take out all the unnatural (forced without reason; bad habits) motions at the hand, arm, shoulder, torso, hips, legs, and feet.

Swinging low to high with an open face will result in a flat ball with little spin, no?

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If the face is mildly open prior impact, it will cause some back spin. As for the low to high path, if it's too vertical (like 30 degrees of increment from the horizontal plane prior contact), the ball will sail high... very high.

If you want a real flat stroke, you need a more vertical racket face and a much more horizontal swing path. It might stun you all, but on the vast majority of strokes, pros are swinging very horizontally, especially if the contact point is high. We're talking about not going even a foot bellow the ball when it's above the waste...

Yes exactly, therefore it seems the most important component of hitting topspin is not necessarily low to high (although that is required), but rather that the racquet is always vertical or slightly closed throughout the swing path. If at any point the face opens (especially at contact) and you come from below the ball, the ball will as pointed out above, hit the back fence.

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Isn't it practically impossible to swing upwards with an open face and yet contact the ball?

To get the feel of top spin, try starting with the racquet low and hitting high shots that go well over the net (basically, an offensive lob). Try to exagerate the feel of brushing and not hitting the ball (you will hear a "swish" sound and not a "pop" from contact).

- Swing from low to high, the upwards movement at contact causes the back of the ball to move up, causing topspin.

- Close the racquet face, as a ball hitting an inclined surface will naturally spin off of it.

- Rotate your arm through the contact (windscreen wiper follow through and pronation). These advanced techniques result in faster upward movement of the racquet at contact.

The big part of the equation that everyone seems to forget, is that if you are going to start hitting with more topspin you will need to change your shot trajectory. Here are two heavy topspin shots which are fun to try and good for getting a feel for how topspin effects the shot:

The Nadal style deep defensive/neutral forehand: standing quite far back, hit the ball with a fairly open face (still closed, but only slightly) aiming for 2m or more of net clearance and to then swing almost vertically up the back of the ball as fast as you can. If the ball drops near to the service line, you either had too little pace or you didn't aim high enough. If hit properly, this shot should be moving fast and high at the baseline, which makes a very hard shot for your opponent to attack.
Pay attention to the net clearance when he isn't going for a winner: www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yUvJjrlnqFs#t=94s

Federer style aggressive forehand: Standing close to the baseline, aim just under 1m above the net and drive through with a more closed racquet face. Really let rip with a WW follow through, whipping across the back/top of the ball. The shot should be hit with enough pace that the ball lands half way between the the service line and baseline in spite of the heavy topspin and low trajectory.
Pay attention to the pace and net clearance when Federer *is* going for a winner: www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=au03gL-1PNA#t=459s

(Note: Both players use different net clearance and shot pace in various situations, however it is often easier to think of the shot trajectory by associating it with the different players)

It was ok for a seat-of-the-pants, topspin "feel" approach. For any real relevancy to the rec game you'd have to account for changes of acceleration due to latitude position.

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A concise and shrewd commentary. There should almost be a "warning" tag attached to the formula to guard against people applying a N 38° 41.130586' approach to a clearly N 37° 41.130586' location. That's true situational hitting.

Isn't it practically impossible to swing upwards with an open face and yet contact the ball?

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Wow, no not at all, unless I'm missing something. I would say it would be the natural instinctual thing players without any instruction would do. By open face I mean say 5 or 10 degrees and coming from underneath the ball such that there is no brushing action but rather a kind of flat hit angled slightly upwards. You know like backyard tapping tennis.

Wow, no not at all, unless I'm missing something. I would say it would be the natural instinctual thing players without any instruction would do. By open face I mean say 5 or 10 degrees and coming from underneath the ball such that there is no brushing action but rather a kind of flat hit angled slightly upwards. You know like backyard tapping tennis.

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I think I kind of understand what you are saying, but cannot visualize it on a real tennis court.

Thank everyone here to help me. Thanks a lot. I've 2 more questions to ask. 1 - Is it true that if I point the buttcap at the point will help me create topspin? I feel comfortable and easy to create topspin in Federer's way of hitting topspin like straight arm when hitting; however, my wrist hurts afterward. 2 - Should I switch to a different way to hit topspin or something? Thank you once again guys.

Thank everyone here to help me. Thanks a lot. I've 2 more questions to ask. 1 - Is it true that if I point the buttcap at the point will help me create topspin? I feel comfortable and easy to create topspin in Federer's way of hitting topspin like straight arm when hitting; however, my wrist hurts afterward. 2 - Should I switch to a different way to hit topspin or something? Thank you once again guys.

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If it hurts don't do it, or at least find out how to do it correctly! If your wrist hurt you may be actively wrist-ing the ball. Keep the wrist laid back but don't actively use it to create top-spin.